


Writer's block

by skeletrash



Category: Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, M/M, let's just pretend that tyler's solo stuff took off and josh found his passion was making cappucinos, twenty one pilots doesn't exist
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-15
Updated: 2017-08-15
Packaged: 2018-04-14 18:59:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 4,672
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4576065
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skeletrash/pseuds/skeletrash
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU where Tyler is a solo artist currently recording his first album and Josh is a barista who works down the road from the recording studio who doesn't realise that the Tyler Joseph from from soundcloud is the same guy that has started coming into his shop every day.<br/>Josh helps Tyler with his writer's block, and top songs help me with mine.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**** Tyler had been in the studio recording for about four weeks now, and the only good thing about the place was the coffee shop around the corner. He was just far enough from home that he had to stay in a crappy hotel with lumpy bed, because the studio was too expensive to stay somewhere nice. Not that the studio could get away with charging so much- it was the middle of winter and the strings on the piano had already snapped twice from the cold. The guy at reception had been so rude about it too, like it was somehow Tyler's fault that his studio had nearly frozen over. On the other hand, the coffee shop two blocks over had cheap drinks, central heating, no annoying background music, and a really cute guy who seemed to be working every time Tyler went there. His name tag said Josh, he had bright red fluffy hair and he always made bad puns while he was making Tyler's cappuccino.

 

"Its ten past, man. You better hurry up or you'll be...  _latte_ to work" Josh said with a cheesy grin on his face one morning.

  
"...what?" Tyler grimaced, looking at the barista over the top of his scarf. He hadn't slept in three days, and for once he was more interested in the coffee than anything the guy had to say to him.

  
"Uh, you usually get here like fifteen minutes earlier. I was trying to be punny..." Josh said, passing over the travel cup with a sheepish look on his face.

  
"I'm sorry, I'm so so tired right now-"

  
"Its okay, just hurry up and drink your coffee and get to wherever you're going" he laughed as Tyler went to leave.

  
Tyler had been going to the coffee shop for every morning since he arrived, and most lunchtimes as well. He kept telling himself it was for the free refills and comfy seats, but each time he found himself even more giggly and shy around Josh- and the behaviour was mutual.

  
But, it was almost a week since that last visit to the shop. Tyler had writer's block and was so tired and frustrated he just wanted to collapse. Nothing was going right and he was one step away from giving up and going home. He wasn't cut out for this crap- he liked performing, not recording. It was exhausting trying to write. Why did he think he would be able to do this by himself?

  
It was either dawn or dusk, he'd been in the studio so long he wasn't sure anymore, and Tyler was walking back to the hotel. Even if he wasn't going to go in, he always peaked in the window of the coffee shop to see Josh's smiling face. He always cheered him up a bit. It was that late (or early) that he expected it to be closed, but the lights were on and Josh was inside dancing around with a broom. Tyler giggled to himself over how adorable he looked shaking his hips and nodding his head to whatever music was playing. There seemed to be another customer sitting in the corner, so Tyler assumed that regardless of the time, it was okay to go in.

  
He swung the door open, stepped inside, and froze as Josh and the customer turned to look at him. Tyler quickly realised that the customer wasn't a customer, and was in fact someone in staff uniform counting up money. The lights were turned down, food and menus packed away, and the anxious feeling of *you're not supposed to be here* quickly creeped into Tyler's stomach.

  
He was so caught up in his irrationally large embarrassment that he didn't recognise the music Josh was dancing to for a nearly 5 seconds. It was his. It was his shitty, _shitty_ soundcloud demos from nearly three years ago. _What fresh hell was this?_

  
"...Is that my-" Tyler began before the look of irritation on the other staff member's face cut him short.  Blood was rushing to his cheeks and his legs were moving him out the door before either of the baristas could tell him they were closed for the day. 

  
Well, that was that. He could never go there ever, ever again.   



	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tyler's plan to avoid his embarassment for the rest of forever goes horribly wrong. Or horribly right, depending on how you look at it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took me far far too long to write, but thank you featuringfrankiero for helping me with ideas!!! Please put nice comments and it might motivate me to actually write the next chapter within the next decade :))))

Tyler’s plan to avoid the coffee shop for the rest of eternity fell flat when he realised that he had to walk past it to get to the studio every day. He’d tried to walk around the block instead, but when he had to explain to his producer, Mark, why he was ten minutes late every day, he realised it was a bit excessive.

After three days of pulling hood up as he quickly shuffled past, he noticed the chalkboard outside the the shop. It usually consisted of one of Josh’s cute puns and some doodles, but this afternoon it said in big white letters ‘A hood ameri-cannot hide a cute face!‘Next to it was a small drawing of a sad face with wild red hair.  


Tyler stopped in his tracks and looked through the window at Josh’s similarly pouting face. Well, caffeine deprivation certainly wasn’t helping his consistent lack of writing, so he took a deep breath, pulled his hood down, and walked into the shop. Josh beamed at him as he walked towards the counter.

"Hey! I uh... I'm glad you're back" Josh said, Tyler noticed he had two cups in front of him, “This is probably a bit forward, but my shift is over in five, do you want to-”

“Yes! I mean, if you like. You... were going to ask to get coffee, right?”

Josh laughed, “Yeah, I’ll be a just a few minutes, will you take these to a table” He slid the cups across the counter towards Tyler.

Tyler walked very slowly to the other side of the shop- partially so he wouldn’t spill the hot drinks, mostly out of shock. How had he gone from never ever seeing Josh ever again, to going on a coffee date with him in a matter of seconds? Was this even a date? Was he just going to sit down and explain to Tyler the laws on entering cafes when they are closed? He sat at a table facing the counter for a few minutes watching Josh as he cleaned up. Every now and then Josh would look up at him and smile, making him feel a little less nervous.

Finally, Josh took off his apron and walked towards the table.

"So, I never asked" he said as he took a chair, "What's your name?"

"Tyler. My name is Tyler."

"Figures..." Josh murmured, smiling to himself, "I guess you already know I'm Josh."

"Yeah," Tyler said with a laugh "Look... about me walking in-"

"Don't worry about it! It seems like it's bothered you a lot, but I know you keep kinda weird hours, so you weren't to know. Plus, I should probably be more embarrassed with the wicked dance moves I was throwing" Josh chuckled with a smile.

"Don't be silly, you looked... cute." Tyler said, shocked by his own confidence. Josh’s cheeks turned pink as he continued to smile.

“So Josh, how did you end up working in this awesome coffee shop?” Tyler asks.

“It’s actually Debby’s shop. She’s the one wandering around with the cool hair? She bought the place a few years back and we have a pretty sweet deal where I get to do all the fun stuff like making drinks, and she does all the boring taxes and stock taking."

"So... are you two like, a thing?" Tyler questioned, suddenly unsure of himself.

"Oh no no no." Josh quickly replied, eyebrows raised with implication "I'm  uh, she's not... my type."

Tyler looked away with a shy smile, "Good to know" he said as he looked back at Josh.

"Anyways, enough about me. What is it you do?" Josh said.

Tyler had thought long and hard about this- whether to, and how to tell Josh that he was Tyler  Joseph,  not just Tyler. But, seen as he wasn't planning on being confronted with the dilemma quite so soon, he panicked and swerved the question, “You know what I do! I turn up here and weird times of the day and night and show a lack of appreciation for you amazing puns” Tyler said with an apologetic smile..

Their conversation outlasted their drinks and the sun. They discovered they grew up remarkably close to one another and talked at length about their childhood and teenage years wandering around the place they both knew as home. Tyler was vaguely aware of the woman, Debby, shuffling around the shop and putting chairs on tables..

"I'm sorry guys, but I really need to close up soon." she said with an apologetic look. They both thanked her and exited the shop, out into the icy cold night..

"Oops, I didn't realise we'd spent so long talking" Josh said, rubbing his hands together, "I'd really like to do it again sometime though?".

Tyler had no intention of turning down his hopeful smile. He dug around in his pocket for a pen and wrote his number on Josh's frozen hand..

"I'll see you soon, Josh" he said, tightly squeezing his hand before walking off towards his hotel..

"See you, Tyler!" Josh yelled after him.  


  
Tyler's bed was just as cold and lumpy as always, but it didn't bother him much. He was too busy writing a song about his old house, apparently so close to Josh's. Both only a stone's throw from a creek he used to roam. Josh had reminded him of when nothing really mattered. He wasn’t stressed out anymore, he just wrote.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this is short and took me so long to post! I'm back at college and coursework is a bitch. I promise disgusting cuteness in the next chapter.

"Tyler you are the biggest dumbass to ever have existed. Just chill out."

“How can i chill out?!”

When Tyler suddenly had a burst of creativity, and a smile on his face, Mark of course wanted to know why. Tyler talked through the entire coffee date up until Josh asking “so what do you do” when he remembered the reason he didn't  want to go in the coffee shop again in the first place.

“Look, I know you have major nerves when it comes to your music. I get the balaclavas, the only print interviews, the few shows- what I don't get is the nerves about the guy who obviously already likes your music, and already likes _you_.” Mark said, crossing his arms and using his ‘mother knows best’ voice.

“Mark, if i can't even show my face to total strangers, how am i supposed to tell the guy I like?”

“Because he is the guy you like! If there was ever a perfect opportunity for you to maybe get over some of you anxiety, Josh is it. I promise you he won't react bad-” Mark was cut off by Tyler's  phone ringing.

“Damn it Tyler what did I tell you about having phones in the studio? Wait are you okay?”

“Shit shit shit I think it's him. What do I do? Nope you answer it” Tyler babbled as he threw the phone at Mark.

“Oh no buddy, if I pick up this phone I'm answering ‘hello, this is Tyler Joseph's agent speaking, he can't make it to the pho-HMPH” Tyler ran at Mark and tried to grab the phone out of his hand, Mark holding it just out of his reach.

“Promise me you'll tell him.”

“Fine just give me the damn phone before it hangs up!”

Mark dropped the phone and Tyler swiftly picked it up and answered.

“Hello this is Tyler speaking” he said, trying to smooth over his voice.

“Hey its Josh! Are you okay? You sound kinda out of breath.”

“Oh no I'm fine,” he replied, glaring at Mark. “Just… at work.”

“Shit I'm sorry! I know it's a bit soon, but i just wanted to ask if you were up for going to dinner?”

“That would be wonderful. Tonight maybe?” Tyler said with soppy grin on his face. Mark rolled his eyes.

“Sure, where should i pick you up from?”

“Do you know where the Melbrook hotel is?”

“Yeah, I'll meet you at six?”

“Can't wait, see you then!”

“Bye Tyler” Josh hung up.

Tyler turned to Mark and gave him his best puppydog eyes,

“Fine, you can leave early. But you've got to get here early tomorrow AND tell Josh you're his favourite musician.”

“Well we don't know if I'm his _favourite_...”

“Oh just shush and go back to the hotel and paint your nails or something.”

“Thank you Mark!” Tyler squealed and he hugged his friend.


	4. Chapter 4

Leaving the studio 3 hours early turned out to be less helpful than Tyler imagined. He'd washed his hair, styled it, messed it up, washed it again, gotten dressed, changed outfits three times, and was now bouncing anxiously on the end of his bed. He always felt so jittery when he was nervous. If there was one positive about performing, it was being able to pour all his nervous energy on stage. He glanced at the clock- still an hour to go. He thought about texting Mark, but he was far too restless (and, he didn't want to be nagged again). In the end, he decided to go down to the hotel's lobby and wait there.

At six on the dot, Josh walked through the door. Tyler had to do a double take. Instead of his usual tshirt and apron Tyler was used to, he was wearing a fitted shirt and trousers, all in black. As Josh walked closer tyler saw his nose ring too- that was certainly new. He suddenly felt very underdressed and very flustered.

“Hi! Uh, you look um… you look very-”

“Gothy? I did try my best” Josh joked, “We better get going now, I reserved a table at this fancy new restaurant for quarter past, and it's all the way across town.”

“Sure” Tyler replied, feeling giddy. How fancy was this restaurant? No wonder Josh was all dressed up. Honestly, he wouldn't mind eating out of a trash can if Josh was next to him smiling like that.

They got there just in time, being directed by the manager towards a cosy booth in the far corner of the room. They chatted mindlessly about the menu until their waitress walked over. Josh stared at the short women with a look of dread.

“Welcome to The Anathema Bar. Are you ready for me to take your order?” She said before looking up. As she did her eyes zoned in on Josh and narrowed.

“Uh, hey Ashley. How’ve you been?” Josh said with a strained smile.

“The specials today are smoked salmon and carrot soup” She carred on through gritted teeth, pointedly ignoring Josh's question.

Tyler couldn't understand where his confidence came from, but the way the waitress was speaking to Josh made his blood boil. He decided to speak up, “Excuse me Miss, I don't know what your problem is, but if you can’t behave with civility then please send us another server. We're on a date and I'd rather you not ruin it.”

He looked over at Josh reassuringly, only to be greeted with the wave of regret rolling over Josh's face.

“Oh, a _date_!?” Ashley haughtily replied, crossing her arms and turning to Josh, “Like the one this _asswipe_ was supposed to take me on when he ditched me for some dumb album signing?”

Tyler and Ashley both looked expectantly at Josh as he cringed. He grabbed Tyler's hand and pulled him out of the booth. “Let's go somewhere else” He said to him before yelling over his shoulder “Thank you for your time Ashley!” as he pulled Tyler out the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've decided to keep these chapters quite short in the hopes I can motivate myself to wrote more often. lmao lets see if that works.  
> Thank you to featuringfrankiero yet again for your awesome ideas, and to everyone else for your lovely comments c:  
> I have a plan for the next chapter, and where I ultimately want the story to end up, but if you have any ideas on where this fic could go then please comment!!!!


	5. Chapter 5

They walked briskly in silence for a few blocks, until they saw a Taco Bell, and made their way inside. After ordering, the tense silence continued for a few minutes before Josh decided to speak up.

“I'm so so sorry about that” he said in chagrin, “I had no clue she was going to be there, oh god that was embarrassing-”

“Please don't apologise, it's okay.” Tyler interrupted, missing Josh's calm smile from just a few minutes before.

“No, Tyler. It's not. I want to explain.”

Tyler felt his stomach churn from , and he wasn't going to kid himself. He knew where this was heading.

“Ashley and I dated- very briefly- last april. Honestly I just wanted to make my parents shut up about getting a girlfriend. So yeah, we hung out a few times, but one time I forgot about a date and went to this meet and greet and she rung me and said she never wanted to see me again.” he rambled, briefly stopping for breath, “Well, she said more than that. It hurt. I guess I deserved it. The meet and greet got cancelled anyways. The guy didn’t even show up. He never does.” Josh wrapped his arms around himself defensively.

Tyler reached out and took hold of both his hands, “It's okay, Josh. I'm not judging you.” though he was pretty certain Josh was more upset about the meet and greet than poor Ashley. Tyler was pretty upset about it too. It could’ve been any meet and greet, he kept trying to tell himself, but he knew it was his. Mark had organised it with only a few days notice, and Tyler had one of the worst panic attacks he’d ever experienced when he found out. It was horrible, but what was worse was knowing he’d let his fans, and Josh, down.

“I just really wanted to meet this guy. Just once. He’d never gone to meet fans before, never even shows his face. I thought I’d get lucky.” Josh drifted off. He looked almost ready to cry. With each word, Tyler felt slightly more sick.

“Look Josh, I don’t think either of us are up for this right now. How about we go out again tomorrow. A fresh start.”

“I’d like that” Josh said, a small smile coming back to his face. They both breathed a sigh of relief, hugged, and went home.

 

 

“I’m telling you Mark, he was talking about me!”

Tyler had called Mark the second he got home. He needed to sort this out in his head.

“He looked so hurt. I can’t believe I did that.”

“I’m sure he’s gotten over it. It was months ago.”

“I don’t think he has. He really cared, he didn’t seem all that bothered about Ashley, he just cared about the meet and greet. Cared about _me_. He just ditched the girl so he could meet me”

“Jesus Tyler, are you getting off on this?”

“No! I mean, what?”

“All _you_ seem to care about is this obsession he has with your music. Though I don’t think you can really take claim to that until you tell him that it is your music.”

“That’s totally not fair! I mean, of course I’m flattered that he cares, but-”

“It’s not that he cares, he was upset, Tyler.”

“Well that’s not my fault. You’re the one that organised that shitty event in the first place. I told you not to. I just think it's sweet that he was bothered. It doesn’t mean I want him to cry over me or whatever.”

“That’s messed up Tyler. You need to tell him. And I need to sleep. I'll see you at the studio tomorrow, 9am sharp buddy.” Mark said before hanging up.

That conversation had done nothing to help him figure out his feelings. This relationship he had with Josh was double sided. One side was him, cranky coffee enthusiast who flirted badly with him at work, the other was some capricious musician who let him down. But it was becoming clear that he couldn't hide it from Mark, never mind himself, that he kinda liked how much Josh connected with his music. Seeing him so flustered, nearly in tears over getting so close to meeting him, willing to jeopardise his relationships for him? It made him feel woozy with shame for not telling him the truth, but also from knowing that emotion, those tears, that was over him. _This is so twisted up_ , Tyler thought as he pulled out his notebook to scribble down his thoughts, _I'm twisted up._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ten points to anyone who knows which song tyler starts writing at the end of this chapter :^)


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry I'm a trash person who writes trash fics with trash timing. This update is nearly two years late and I cannot promise it will be worth it and I am very sorry. I hope new readers will enjoy this vintage fic, any feedback will be included in the next installment in about 2021 :))  
>  (But seriously tho I'm a bit rusty, any pointers or just a thumbs up would be very very much appriciated)

Tyler slowly spiralled as he continued writing. Although the song started about Josh, it ended up being far more introspective than he was comfortable with. He always found that negative thoughts came to him far easier at night, but hadn't been so bad it quite a while. Could he still pursue Josh while he lied to him? Was he really so manipulative and sadistic that he would find pleasure in treating someone like this? Utilising an old coping mechanism, he determinedly littered the new lyrics with positivity. The night and the horrors it brought would soon melt away- everything would seem better in the morning. Still, he barely slept that night. He knew Mark probably didn't mean to strike a chord, but Tyler had this knot in the pit of his stomach he thought would never leave. There were of course many possible positive outcomes to The Josh Situation, but he could only think of the worst. He festered in them until dawn. As the night was wearing off, his phone buzzed-

"hey tyler, its josh!! im rly sorry about last night, hope we're still up for coffee this morning and dinner tonight?? :)"

The knot in Tyler's stomach instantly turned into butterflies and his foggy brain didn't know what to do with itself. Mark would not be impressed if he missed any more studio time, and neither would Josh if he failed to turn up for his morning coffee, so he decided to write his fears that evening and bury them for the time being. He was far too excited about actually seeing Josh again to worry about what would happen afterwards. He felt slightly apprehensive as he walked towards the coffee shop, but again it all melted away when he saw Josh's huge smile waiting for him with a cup of coffee.

"Okay I'm super sorry man but I had to get off work early yesterday and then there was that night we spent ages chatting and Debby is getting a bit cranky about me missing work so I've already made your drink and now I have to get back to it IS THAT OKAY DEBBIE!?" Josh rambled out at break neck speed.

"Nothing against you dude, just need my barista barista-ing" Debbie shouted back at them both from wiping tables at the other end of the shop.

"No worries," Tyler chuckled, "my uh, boss is getting a bit grumpy about it too. Mind if we put dinner back an hour tonight?"

"Oh god I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to get you in trouble we can totally do that", Josh looked so worried Tyler thought his heart might melt.

"Like I said, no worries! I'll see you then." Tyler said as he reached for his drink. He let his hand linger on Josh's for a second before he left. He knew it was cliché to prolong these small moments of contact, but the happiness he felt and the blush that crept onto Josh's cheeks was totally worth it. As he hurried out the door he could hear Debby begin to tease Josh for his dorkiness in the distance.

 

 

"So... You, guy who currently looks as if he is floating on clouds, stayed up all night writing _this_ song?" Mark stared at Tyler, arms crossed and brows raised in disbelief.

"...Yes?" Tyler replied, unsure of what he was getting at. He was hoping the lyrics would please Mark, both as an admission he was right about Josh, as well as a valliant effort for the album, but it was not having the desired effect.

"I do not get you man. This is your darkest stuff since Drown. _'My shadow grows taller along with my fears,_  
_And my frame shrinks smaller as night grows near'_? How can you have written that a few hours ago and look this happy right now?"

Tyler stopped and tried to justify it in his own head. Instead he settles for a nonchalant shrug, "I'm not really sure, I felt pretty dark last night, but I don't know, I got my coffee this morning and I just feel a lot brighter!"

"You mean you got to see Josh this morning."

"Yeah I guess that too..." Tyler deflected, looking bashful.

"Look, I'm sorry if anything I said set this off. You're in a sticky spot. I might've been too harsh on you last night and I can't judge you for how you're feeling or how you deal with it. But please don't feel like you can't talk to me about this. I want to help, and damn it, you guys are cute and I gotta know what's going on" Mark finished with a smile.

Tyler leaned over and gave him a hug, He'd started to feel nervous with Mark questioning his motivations with Josh, and then his lyrics. His friend always supported him through thick and thin though, that's what made them work so well together.

"Don't think this means you get to finish early for any more dates though, mister. Even if Josh is becoming your muse" Mark teased. Tyler jabbed him in the arm before walking through to the practice space to figure out chords for his new song.

 

 

Tyler tried mostly to put the feelings of the night before out of his head. He was not a bad person for finding Josh and his dedication endearing, and he would try to tell him the truth that night, and hope for the best.

Except of course, that didn't happen. Josh picked him up from the hotel again, and they ate burgers together before both failing miserably at winning lazer tag. It hurt quite a bit when Josh accidentally smacked into him in the dark, but Tyler had to admit he enjoyed the aftermath of Josh holding him and making sure he was okay. They laughed and joked and ran around like giddy teenagers until their time was up and they collapsed into the back of a cab. Their mood slowed as they quietly giggled to each other about the night's antics, only just audible over the smooth noise of the engine. Tyler knew he needed to say something, but this barely seemed like the time. Josh was smiling as him lazily, the soft streetlights darting over his face made him look almost ethereal. Why would he want to do anything but than look at him, why would he do anything to cut this moment short? Sadly, before he knew it the cab was pulling up outside Josh's apartment.

"I had such an amazing time tonight, Tyler." Josh said as the the car slowed.

"Me too" Tyler replied, "I really hope we can do it again some time. Maybe without being knocked over next time though?"

"I'm still so sorry about that! I'll see you tomorrow, yeah?" Josh laughed sheepishly before undoing his seatbelt and going to get out of the car.

Tyler nodded, feeling slightly disappointed. Should he attempt an awkward half hug in the back seat? There's no chance in hell he has the guts to initiate even that. Josh paused after he opened the door, and threw himself towards Tyler, pressing their lips together. If Tyler was floating before, now he was in freefall, and it somehow felt even better. Before he could lift his hands to cup Josh's face, he was pulling away and dashing out the door.

"Okay I'll see you tomorrow!" Tyler weakly called after him, feeling more than a bit dazed. He watched Josh walk up to his door and waved goodbye.

"Can we go now?" The driver asked, raising his eyebrows at him in the rearview mirror with a smirk.

"Oh shush" he replied, blushing and smiling to himself the rest of the way to the hotel.


End file.
